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| Plug it in: Since opening a solar-powered car dealership last September, Gompertz has sold only one Zenn, which recharges with a plug. Anne Sherwood/Special to the Christian Science Monitor |
Electric cars in Big Sky country?
Gas-guzzlers rule in Montana, but one salesman is trying to grow a niche market for the environmentally friendly Zenn car.
from the July 9, 2007 edition
Page 4 of 4
"Not at all," says Brian Schweitzer, Montana's ecoconscious governor. "In fact, if he is crazy, then I must be, too, because my wife and I are thinking about buying one of them."
The governor test-drove one of Gompertz's Zenns earlier this year, when he signed a bill raising Montana's speed limit for non-crash-tested electric cars to 35 m.p.h., the nation's highest. Rather than trying to bash his cars' square pegs into Bozeman's round holes, Gompertz is attempting to change the whole game. He plans to convert an all-wheel-drive Subaru, ubiquitous on Bozeman freeways, into an electric car.
"The Suby is so accepted here in Bozeman, it becomes almost a Trojan horse, with little guys inside: it's an electric car, but it looks familiar. It'll sneak in here."
The fact that he's gone the entire day without a single customer doesn't seem to bother him at all. He's more bothered by his self-perceived status as an "ecoposer" because he uses a VW Touareg SUV, with a trailer, to transport the little cars. And he also has trouble accepting that he is, in fact, a car salesman. Of all the hats he's worn, he never aspired to that one. He admits he sometimes has trouble closing the deal.
"There's so many people who come in and go, 'Oh, this is a really great car, yeah!' Then there's an awkward period, sort of like kissing a girl. Who's gonna do what? I can tell they're really interested in buying it, but I really can't, you know ... kiss them."
Yet another challenge, but one senses he'll get the hang of it. After all, he's been around the block a few times.
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